Mar 16, 2026
Disability Law Colorado (DLC) has released a new public report: Breaking Point: Conditions in the Colorado Division of Youth Services (2021–2025), documenting serious safety concerns inside Colorado’s youth detention facilities operated by the Division of Youth Services (DYS). The report details rising violence, increasing use of physical restraints, and significant staffing shortages across the state’s youth confinement system.
Based on four years of monitoring, the report draws on 35 monitoring visits conducted between September 2021 and October 2025, interviews with 112 youth who spent time in DYS custody, and analysis of state data. The findings identify troubling trends across Colorado’s youth detention facilities, including a sharp increase in more invasive restraint practices, rising youth-on-youth and youth-on-staff assaults, and declining numbers of direct care staff responsible for supervising youth.
“In an ideal world, Colorado would reduce its reliance on confinement facilities like these and invest in community-based services,” said Emily Harvey, Co-Legal Director at Disability Law Colorado. “But as long as these facilities remain open, the state has a responsibility to make sure young people are safe and getting the care they need.”
The report also raises broader concerns about Colorado’s youth justice system. While funding for secure youth detention facilities has increased in recent years, funding for community-based services that allow youth to remain safely in the community has declined significantly. As a result, many young people remain confined in detention facilities even when they are eligible for release because alternative placements are unavailable.
Read the full report: Download the Public Report (PDF)
Press release: View the Press Release (PDF)
